Department of Home Affairs, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, OR Tambo International Airport, eight undocumented foreign nationals arrested, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, foreign nationals

Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the Home Affairs Department is looking at reinstating transit visas. Photo: GCIS / Flickr

Motsoaledi says transit visas are needed again after OR Tambo arrests

After the news broke of the arrests at OR Tambo Airport, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi admitted that SA needs transit visas again.

Department of Home Affairs, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, OR Tambo International Airport, eight undocumented foreign nationals arrested, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, foreign nationals

Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the Home Affairs Department is looking at reinstating transit visas. Photo: GCIS / Flickr

Transit visas are now a priority for the Department of Home Affairs. The Department is planning to reinforce these visas following an incident at the OR Tambo International Airport where eight were arrested.

Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals caught hiding in a network of tunnels

The undocumented migrants were reportedly Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals. The individuals arrived in SA from Doha on a Qatar Airways flight earlier this week. They were arrested by authorities after they hid in a network of tunnels through a fire hydrant at OR Tambo.

Home Affairs stopped transit visas for travellers passing through SA en route to neighbouring countries back in 2015. Now, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi admitted that the decision led to a rise in illegal activities.

Motsoaledi admits that transit visas are needed

He said the Department realised that these visas are needed again, reports EWN.

“We are deciding in Home Affairs that the transit visa will once more be needed, but I’m sure you saw on social media when they were pulling people out of the fire hydrant. When they move in there is a passage, that passage is for pipes and wires and all that,”

said Motsoaledi.

JMPD arrests two suspects on human trafficking charges in Joburg CBD

In other news making headlines, it was previously reported that two suspects were arrested by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) for human trafficking. The male and female suspects were arrested in the Johannesburg CBD on 15 June.

While conducting patrols along Wanderers and Noord Street, operations officers stopped an overloaded silver Toyota Quantum minibus taxi with Mozambican number plates.

Officers searched the vehicle and found that all the passengers within the vehicle were undocumented foreign nationals. Officers attempted to question the passengers and a lady in the vehicle spoke on their behalf so they would not be arrested. Read the full story here.